Playing With The Boys
by xXWhen.Teletubiies.Go.MadXx
Summary: Set in 1918. Edward is an Army Commander, Bella is the not so girly girl that pretends to be a guy then joins the army, with the help of Alice of course. The army brings about a whole new bout of challenges, can she pull through? All human, canon pairings
1. Sign Up

**Hey guys, here's the first chapter of Playing With The Boys. I've had this idea running around my head ever since I watched Mulan with my sister… The story will mostly be run in Bella's POV, but Edwards POV will be at the end ok? It's set in 1918 Australia (soz, I wanted to have it there) and there ALL HUMAN ok? **

**I don't own Twilight OR Mulan… which this is sort of based around…. Mwahaha.**

**Chapter 1**

**BPOV**

A loud knock started banging on the door bringing me out of my deep sleep. I looked outside my window, it was barely daylight. I groaned but stepped out of bed and stumbled out to the front door. I opened the door to find my best friend Alice bouncing on the front step. "Alice, what is it? The sun has even risen yet." I said while rubbing sleep from my eyes.

"Bells, have you already forgotten what today was?" she questioned. I racked my brain to remember the date. 16th of December… now what was so special about that date. I gasped when I realized.

"Oh no Alice, you can't make me go! You know I hate these sort of things!" I yelled while trying to shut the door on her. She had obviously realized what I was about to do because she had her foot in between the door and the doorway.

"Bella, it isn't that bad," she protested.

"Only for you! You're so gorgeous it doesn't matter, you're picked every year!" I groaned.

"Bells! I am so not picked every year!" she yelled.

"Ok then, tell me one time you weren't." I smirked knowing that I had won.

"Umm, well… there was… no, not that year… umm." she stuttered.

"Exactly Alice, so what makes you think I'm going to bother competing in this year's beauty contest?"

"Because it's held at the carnival and I promise to let you go and compete in the sparring rings as well." I looked out the door to make sure she hadn't crossed her fingers.

"You promise?" she always played the sparring card to get me to go with her to all sorts of girly things that I hated. Fighting with the swords was the only thing I ever felt comfortable, and my older brother Ben used me to train him. Well, that was before the accident.

"Yes I promise, now go wash up. I'll be in your room waiting for you; did you end up buying that really nice outfit I picked for you? You better have." she said as she pushed past me to my room. I sighed and walked to my family's small washroom; I dipped a rag into the water bucket and wiped my face, arms and legs. When I felt slightly more awake, I walked back to my room. I was attacked by a ball of energy; I was pushed onto the bed and my brown hair started to get pulled back.

"Alice, just don't go overboard please." I asked.

"When do I ever go overboard?" she asked. I just raised an eyebrow at her, "Ok just a little bit." She sighed.

"Thank you." I replied, relief colouring my tone. The sun had started to rise over the horizon when Alice finished. She handed me dress made of yellow silk. "Alice," I gasped, "How did you manage to get hold of yellow?" I asked.

"I made it, duh." I looked at her in surprise, with these colours and designs she could make a fortune. She walked out of my room to get changed into her own dress. Once she was gone I quickly changed into my own dress, and checked my reflection. When I did I had to shake my head then look again, the girl that looked back was breathtaking. Her brown eyes sparkled and her brown hair was pulled back into a messy French braid. It took me a little while for me to understand that it was me in the reflection. I walked out of my bedroom to see if Ben was up and attempting to make a form of breakfast, Alice was sitting at the table in a white and red dress that contrasted against her hair perfectly. **(A/N: Both outfits on my profile pictures.)**

Ben turned from the fire stove with a plateful of food, only to almost drop it when he saw me. "Wow, Bells you look," he struggled to find the right words.

I laughed, "I know, but I look plain compared to Alice." I winked at him; he had a little crush on her. He blushed at my comment.

"No Bella, you look breathtaking." He protested.

"It was all Alice." I shrugged as I sat down, careful not to crumple any part of the dress. "I know it isn't easy to make me pretty, she must have used all her make up!" I joked, but to be honest… I was being truthful. Ben limped over to the table and placed the eggs and ham down in front of Alice and I, we both shovelled in the food. Today was going to be very long and tedious. "Ben, maybe you should sit down," I suggested.

He shook his head as he took the dirty plates to wash them, "Sorry Bells, a man has gotta do what a man has gotta do." He joked. I gave him a disapproving look, but had Alice started to drag me out the front door.

"This isn't over!" I yelled at him.

"It never is," I heard him mumble while chuckling.

I was about to reply but Alice had grabbed my waist and dragged me backwards, giving me a perfect view of the house. Our house from the outside looked worn but comfortable; it was a ground floor with a kitchen, washroom, two bedrooms and a small room for the table. The walls were never covered with paint; both my brother and I had loved the colour of the wood too much. The front path was made of mismatching cobble stones that led to the dirt road. We started to follow the dirt road into town, and the carnivals festivities were already begging to show. Small children were pretending to fight with wooden sticks, actually, that reminded me. "Alice, did you bring me a change of clothes?" I whispered into her ear.

A look of confusion crossed her face but then it cleared, "What? Oh right, yes I have. It's waiting behind the stage for the beauty contest." She whispered back.

"Thanks, what number am I?" I asked in my normal volume.

"That's OK, and your number three." She read out from a little sheet in her hands.

"Who's the person before me?" I enquired.

"The town bicycle." She replied with a blank look. Whenever she put on that face I knew she was hurting, this time it was because the town bicycle – aka Lauren Mallory – stole her fiancé from her. Now Alice was always suspicious of a lot of the male population in our town, because you never actually knew what they were doing behind your backs. I put my hand on her shoulder as we walked; she gave me a weak smile.

By then we had reached the carnival, all the cooked food wafted over to entice us. I started to make my way over, "I'm just going to," I never got to complete my sentence because I was pulled back.

"No Bella," Alice scolded, "You might stain you pretty dress, who knows? Maybe a rich lord will see you and want to marry you?"

"Alice," I sighed, "I would kick them in the manhood and run for my life." She looked at me in disbelief and my cool was lost, I started to laugh. "I'm joking Alice! You should have seen your face," I was cut off by a slap to the face, "I'm partly serious though, why would they choose me when you're here?" I asked.

"Bella I have told you a thousand times, you are way prettier than me." She yelled.

"I definitely agree," a rough voice said behind me. A hand went onto my shoulder and I felt a head rest on the other, "I would want to marry you." I turned around to see Mike grinning like an idiot, but the grin went away pretty quickly after I punched him in the nose.

"Oh Mike!" I yelled, "Are you OK?" he was rolling on the ground holding his nose in his hands, a group had started to form around us. "I don't know what happened! One minute ago we were just talking then the next someone ran up and punched him in the nose!" I said hysterically, Alice was next to me and trying to keep a straight face. Somehow it was failing. Mike tried to get up, "Mike did I see that right?" I asked.

He looked at me warily for a moment, "Yes," he finally said, "That's exactly what happened. I breathed a sigh of relief, and tried to stop my grin. The beauty contest organizer started calling for the competitors. I flashed an apologetic smile to Mike and left him to the questions of the people watching.

As soon as we were an acceptable distance from Mike, Alice and I looked at each other and burst out laughing. "You are such a good liar!" Alice gasped out. I could only nod. We managed to get ourselves under control and started to walk into the little cottage that would serve as our changing room. I didn't really understand why we needed to get ready again, but Alice insisted so I followed. But not without a fight.

"Alice what's the point? All we are going to do is walk up and down a wooden platform." Unfortunately I had managed to say this as we were walking into the cottage and all the girls in there stopped applying random things and stared at Alice and I. As predicted, I blushed and ran to a secluded room that was thankfully empty of bimbos. "Ok can you answer my question now?" I pleaded.

She sighed before answering, "Bells, it may not seem like it but…" she bit her lip in hesitation.

"But…" I prompted.

"I really enjoy this sort of thing, you know… like a profession… I just thought that I could get you to help me…" she trailed off. I had to blink quickly to stop the few tears that threatened, if she was joking then so help me…

"I'm so sorry Al, I'll do it for you."

"Thanks." She said warmly. I somehow got the impression that I had been conned after all. I couldn't think of it anymore because a lady had just come in calling for all the competitors.

"Okay ladies," she called out, "I'm going to need Angela, Lauren, Isabella, and Josie." She turned around without waiting for us. Alice nudged me and whispered.

"I think that means you should follow her," she gave me a push and grabbed a few things out of her bag and walked away, I sighed.

I followed the lady, I found out she was called Matilda, to the back of the stage. "Ok ladies, there are four judges there and the fifth one is going to arrive shortly. We have a band that will play backstage; all you have to do is sing along to the unknown song until you know the lyrics." I gulped at her words; Alice had never said anything like this was going to happen. "You will be marked on how you look, how quickly you pick up on the songs and if you include any dance moves. This is a new addition, we felt we weren't gaining enough people to watch and raise funds so we added in this twist. Angela you will go first." Angela nodded at Matilda and wiped her hands on the waist of her dress, apparently I wasn't the only one that was nervous. "Ok then, start walking in… 3… 2… 1." Angela walked up the short steps and walked on bravely.

**(A/N: LOL! I will put in modern day songs; I'm hoping to have each song going with their personalities… mwahhahahahaaha…)**

A few seconds later a song started to filter through the curtains, I took a peek to she Angela swaying confidently… she knew the song. LUCKY!

_Waking up I see that everything is ok  
The first time in my life and now it's so great  
Slowing down I look around and I am so amazed  
I think about the little things that make life great  
I wouldn't change a thing about it  
This is the best feeling_

_This innocence is brilliant  
I hope that it will stay  
This moment is perfect  
Please don't go away  
I need you now  
And I'll hold on to it  
Don't you let it pass you by_

_I found a place so safe, not a single tear  
The first time in my life and now it's so clear  
Feel calm, I belong, I'm so happy here  
It's so strong and now I let myself be sincere  
I wouldn't change a thing about it  
This is the best feeling_

_This innocence is brilliant  
I hope that it will stay  
This moment is perfect  
Please don't go away  
I need you now  
And I'll hold on to it  
Don't you let it pass you by_

_It's a state of bliss, you think you're dreaming  
It's the happiness inside that you're feeling  
It's so beautiful it makes you wanna cry_

_It's a state of bliss, you think you're dreaming  
It's the happiness inside that you're feeling  
It's so beautiful it makes you wanna cry_

_It's so beautiful it makes you wanna cry_

_This innocence is brilliant, It Makes you want to cry  
This innocence is brilliance Please don't go away  
Cause I need you now  
And I'll hold on to it, Don't you let it pass you by_

_This innocence is brilliant  
I hope that it will stay  
This moment is perfect  
Please don't go away  
I need you now  
And I'll hold on to it  
Don't you let it pass you by_

After the last note was played the whole area went up in thunderous applause. "Angela that was fantastic!" I all but screamed at her when she walked back down.

"Thank you," she said while looking nervously at Lauren who had a smirk on her face.

"Well if everyone sings and looks like you, I'm sure to win." I looked at Lauren in shock; I should've guessed she'd say something like that. She swayed off trying to look pretty; I turned back to Angela to see her nearly on the verge of tears.

"Angela! Don't cry over her words!" I said, trying to comfort her. "We'll watch her and laugh along everyone else watching, ok?" she nodded timidly.

"Thank you," she whispered, I gave her a hug. We turned back to the stage to see Lauren jumping up and down, and happening to look a lot like a hippo. The song started and she smirked and winked at one of the male judges, he gulped in response.

_It's Lauren Bitch  
I see you,  
And I just wanna dance with you_

_Everytime they turn the lights down  
Just wanna go that extra mile for you  
Public display of affection  
Feels like no one else in the room (but you)_

_We can get down like there's no one around  
We keep on rocking, we keep on rockin'  
Cameras are flashing while we're dirty dancing  
They keep watching, keep watchin'  
Feels like the the crowd was saying_

_Gimme Gimme more  
Gimme more  
Gimme gimme more_

_The center of attention, even when we're up against the wall  
You got me in a crazy position (uh huh)  
If you're on a mission (ooh)  
You got my permission oh_

_We can get down like there's no one around  
We keep on rocking, we keep on rockin'  
Cameras are flashing while we're dirty dancing  
They keep watching, keep watchin'  
Feels like the the crowd was saying_

_Gimme Gimme more  
Gimme more  
Gimme gimme more_

_I just can't control myself, more  
They want more?  
Well I'll give them more (ow!)_

_Gimme Gimme more  
Gimme more  
Gimme gimme more_

_Gimme Gimme more  
Gimme more  
Gimme gimme more_

_Gimme more gimme more  
Gimme more gimme more babe  
I just want more_

_Gimme gimme gimme gimme gimme_

The whole way through the song Angela and I were trying to stop laughing at the faces of the audiences, pure shock. Lauren had thought this was a good thing because she started to do even more prerogative dances. The laughter died down when I realized it was actually my go… oh crap. Lauren sauntered off stage, and smile sweetly at me, "Good luck twerp," she said. Angela and I gagged at her back.

"Isabella," I turned to see Matilda running at me, "You're supposed to be on now," she said breathlessly. I nodded numbly and turned to the stage.

"Good luck," Angela whispered. I walked on and stood nervously for a moment, looking at the swarms of people in front of me. I gulped. The music started to play, and I smiled. I had recognized the drum line.

"This is for two very special people who deserve each other very much," I don't know where the new found courage came from, and I didn't care. "Their names are Lauren and Mike." Everyone laughed at that, then my cue came up for me to start singing.

_Hey there, you there  
Yeah, yeah, yeah you there  
talk of the town  
Don't come near me  
I can't stand it  
You just get me down  
You just get me down_

_And your heads full of one thing  
and your mouth's never shut  
let it loose, all the juice  
about your own good self_

_so keep on lookin'  
at your face in the mirror  
there's never ever gonna be  
anyone nearer to you, than you  
and kiss yourself  
when you wake up in the morning  
another night spent with one who  
was dearest to you and that's you_

_Isn't it fun, being so dumb?  
Isn't it fun being so dumb?_

_Isn't it fun being so dumb?_

_I say, oh ok  
if you really are so cute  
then how come  
no-one, ever goes near you  
ever touches you, no, no-one_

_And your heads full of nothing  
and it's all lips have glum  
who would guess, self obsessed  
could turn you out so dumb_

_so keep on lookin'  
at your face in the mirror  
there's never ever gonna be  
anyone nearer to you, than you  
and kiss yourself  
when you wake up in the morning  
another night spent with one who  
was dearest to you and that's you_

_Isn't it fun, being so dumb?  
Isn't it fun being so dumb?_

_Isn't it fun?_

The applause I got sounded so loud compared to the other two, I was shocked. Even the judges were clapping and smiling… that's weird. I quickly rushed off stage, only to trip running down the stairs. I landed in a set of sturdy arms, but my motion had pushed them over as well. I looked the persons face, it was Ben. "Ben! What are you doing here?" I exclaimed.

"Well, I came here to congratulate you on your singing, It was really good," he glanced around before continuing, making me suspicious. "And I uh… well… met Angela and we… um… got talking…" he trailed off. I grinned at him.

"I'll let you two continue talking then, I've got to go to Alice or she'll have me for dinner." I walked off to the little cottage, but found no-one. I decided to check out the very large audience that was forming around the stage, I found all the girls from the cottage standing on upturned buckets trying to get a good view. "Alice!" I hissed. A little bundle of red and white flew towards me.

"Oh Bella! You were so fabulous!" The bundle shouted. How she managed to keep all that white on the dress clean was beyond me, the dirt road had covered most of me already.

"Alice I want to go know," I hinted. She sighed but led me behind the shed, where a bundle of clothes were waiting. She pushed a few of the clothes at me and told me to change, "What here? Right now?" I asked incredulously.

"Yes here and now, oh Bella get over it." She snapped. I quickly changed, hoping Mike or Tyson wouldn't come looking around the corner. The clothes were plain but the chain mail that slipped over it wasn't. It had belonged to my Grandfather who fought in the war regularly, and had been passed on to my brother. But since his accident he didn't use it, so I did. The metal gleamed in the sunlight, in the same condition it was when Grandfather had made it.

"Alice when are you up on stage? I don't want to be waiting all by myself!" I whispered fervently.

"ALICE!" a voice called, "YOU'RE ON NOW SO HURRY UP!"

"It's my turn now in case you hadn't heard," she said cheekily before running off on her tiny feet. I walked over to the stage and waited for her turn, she walked out pristine as ever and started to sing with the music so confidently, it was like she owned the world.

_Stand up  
Like your mama said  
You can be a mouse or  
You can be a man_

_I don't have the time for  
A little boy like you  
Respect just ain't a word  
It's something that you do_

_You need to prove  
She's everything  
She's a goddess and a queen bee  
Show your loving boy and you'll be king_

_Come on!_

_Kiss your mama  
Give me everything I'm waiting for  
Kiss your mama  
Show respect  
Go and unlock the door  
Kiss your mama baby  
That's what I'm praying for  
You'll be mine  
When I see you act like a man_

_Nah nah nah nah nah nah nah  
I know you can  
Nah nah nah nah nah nah nah  
Be a man  
Nah nah nah nah nah nah  
So tell me who kisses your mama now?_

_I'll break it down so  
You can understand  
I'm independent  
But I want a man_

_If you think I'm uptight  
Baby think again  
Maybe time to grow up  
Stop acting like a kid_

_Oh what's the problem  
Can't a woman be a woman,  
and a man be gentleman?_

_Kiss your mama  
Give me everything I'm waiting for  
Kiss your mama  
Show respect  
Go and unlock the door  
Kiss your mama baby  
That's what I'm praying for  
You'll be mine  
When I see you act like a man_

_Nah nah nah nah nah nah nah  
I know you can  
Nah nah nah nah nah nah nah  
Be a man  
Nah nah nah nah nah nah  
So tell me who kisses your mama now? _

_You need to prove  
She's everything  
She's a goddess and a queen bee  
Show your loving boy and you'll be king_

_Come on!_

_Come on!_

_Come on!_

_Come on!_

_Come on!_

_Kiss your mama  
Give me everything I'm waiting for  
Kiss your mama  
Show respect  
Go and unlock the door  
Kiss your mama baby  
That's what I'm praying for  
You'll be mine  
When I see you act like a man_

_Nah nah nah nah nah nah nah  
I know you can  
Nah nah nah nah nah nah nah  
Be a man  
Nah nah nah nah nah nah  
So tell me who kisses your mama now?_

She got into the song so easily and did her own little complicated step dance that made everyone's jaw drop, with a pop. As the song finished up I ran to the back to grab her from her admirers. "Alice come on let's go!" I said while trying to pull her.

"What no 'congrats you were so awesome and you will totally win'?" she asked, folding her arms across her chest. "Anyway I want to find out who wins." She said stubbornly with the puppy dog pout. I was done for.

"Fine! I said," her face lit up, "But on one condition." her face suddenly turned sour.

"And that is?" she asked tersely.

"You get changed as soon as you win." her face lit up again.

"Sure, but there's no guarantee that I will win." she stated.

"Oh yes there is," I said coldly before shoving her into the crowd again. Matilda walked up onto the stage and started to speak, the crowd went silent.

"The winner of this year's Brisbane Beauty contest is…"

**EPOV**

Once the little black haired girl had stopped screaming her head off and hugging everyone, I politely excused myself from the crowd and made my way over to the fighting ring. I was coming around the corner of one of the tents when Lauren ran over and crushed me into a hug. "Edward! I can't believe I finally found you! You were always good at hiding! Why didn't you vote for me in the beauty show? I was so better than that pixie!" she yelled in one breath.

"Lauren, I did vote for you. Why wouldn't I?" I only said it so she would let go, I thought the brown haired angel did it much better than anyone else there. But Jasper was practically in love with the 'pixie' as Lauren put it, and was a sucker for the wink she sent to the judges table after her performance. He claimed that he didn't even know who she was and had never spoken to her, but I think he's going to pretty soon.

"Of course you would Edward! That's why you are the world's best fiancé!" I pushed her away this time and started to back away.

"Lauren I never asked you to marry me." I stated slowly.

"Yes I know, but you were going to weren't you?" she asked with a pout, and she took on the appearance of someone with constipation.

"Lauren, I was never going to." Realization dawned on her face and she scowled at me. Her palm connected with my cheek as she stormed off, I rubbed my cheek as I walked around the tent into the crowds to find the seats for the army. Lots of girls made their way over to me but I dodged them as quickly as possible, and sat down next to Jasper. "Hey Jasper," I whispered. He threw me a scowl and I realized my slip up. "Sorry General."

"Your excused Commander," he muttered.

"Do you expect to find any good talent?" I enquired. He gazed thoughtfully at the contestants lining up, I cast my eyes there too. Most of the boys were the usual candidate's; tall, eager and willing to hurt people. In the line were what seemed like two very out of place boys, even though they acted like they belonged there, there was a sense of nervousness around them. They were much smaller than any of the other boys and very slight, for some reason I was afraid of them being hurt.

"No more than the usual," he replied.

The tournament began soon after and both Jasper and I kept our eyes on the sparring pair, trying to look for any potential. What scared me the most was seeing the small boys fight, and that I was scared for them. I looked at Jasper and saw he was experiencing the same emotion. Neither of us had need for worry because both small boys were top fighters, and very strong. The smallest of the pair defeated a man at least twice his size without breaking a sweat over it. The tournament finished and the larger of the two was crowned champion of the year, much to the bravo of the spectators.

Jasper and I walked over to the crowed of fighters and picked out our selections. They all looked at us with wide eyes. "Men," I announced. There was a laugh somewhere in the group and I saw the little boy elbow the other one, I raised an eyebrow in their direction. "You have all been selected for the army training program, if you wish to attend, please fill out your name and address on the sheet of paper next to the General," I motioned to where Jasper was standing. "If you don't want to please leave now." I looked around. No-one moved, I smiled. Then some-one did move, I turned to see one of the small boys trying to pull the other one away but he wasn't moving.

The group lined up and everyone did as they had told, _'they'll be good soldiers.' _I thought. When the line ended the two boys were all that were left, one walked proudly forward while the other slowly walked forward. He wrote down; Albert Brandson, 34 Walkway Cresent Brisbane. The other walked forward and wrote; Brian Swan, 59 Forbes Creek Brisbane. "Welcome aboard," I said looking at the boy, the boy gasped and ran away. This was going to be an interesting group of soldiers.

**Hope you guys like it alright, I want to make long chapters so it might be a while before the next one comes out OK? Songs if anyone wants to know are: (Angela) Innocence by Avril Lavigne, (Lauren) Gimme More by Britney Soears, (Bella) Dumb by Lash, (Alice) Kiss your Mama by Vanessa Amorosi... Also I have another story so I want to keep dong that one as well… see ya'z l8r! xxoo**


	2. Turmoil

BPOV

"Omg, I cannot believe you just made me do that!" Alice all but shrieked in my ear once we had left the company of the actual guys.

"Do what?" I asked innocently.

"You know exactly what! I signed up for training because of you! No make-up, no making dresses! Practising how to fight! What if an actual war comes around? What if someone finds out, that we're CHICKS!" She started hyperventilating, scaring the hell out of me. But she was right; I was just so excited to actually win something and I just felt so right and confident in that moment.

"Alice, I'm -" I started to apologise, but I was cut off by the HUGE oaf that Alice somehow beat.

"Hey, pipsqueak." He growled. I took a physical step back. If there was just one thing that could set Alice off more than anything, it was any sort of name to make fun of her height.

_I just hope she remembers she is still in her fighting gear…_ I thought.

"Excuse me?" She asked, eyes narrowing to thin slits as she sized him up… for the second time today.

He walked right up to her, and he was towering over her, but she didn't even flinch. "How did you do that!" He exclaimed with a huge grin on his face. Both of our jaws dropped.

"Pardon?" I asked, too shocked to remind myself to use a deeper voice.

"What this scrawny guy pulled! I was absolutely awesome, I haven't been brought down like that for ages, let alone met someone who could stand more than a few minutes with me," He gave another 500 watt smile in Alice's direction, and I swear she almost melted right then and there. "My name's Emmett by the way." He held out his hand to her… and half a minute rolled by. He raised an eyebrow at her.

She blinked a couple of times, seemingly regaining her composer. "Uh… Thanks?" It came out more like a question, but Emmett simply laughed.

"You're welcome bro," and quickly grabbed her hand to shake it. "So, I didn't get your name." He said bluntly.

"Oh its, Al-" she tapered off.

"Al? Is that it? Well what a fitting short name for one so short," He mocked.

"Hey," She said, "Ever think it was short for something else!"

"Such as…"

"Albert."

"Albert?" He broke out into hysterical laughter, "No wonder you like your name shortened to Al!" He continued laughing, and when I gave out a small giggle he stopped and turned to me.

_Oh crap, oh crap, OH CRAP!_

"Hey, well done to you too man, well played today. Haven't seen you before where, have you been hiding?" he enquired.

"I only just came into the area recently," I said, I coughed quickly to attempt to lower my voice a bit more. "I'm Brian by the way." I held out my hand in what I thought would be a simple hand-shake. Little did I know it was going to be a strength match, I literally lost all feeling in my hand. _Ouch! Since when did guys squeeze that hard?_

"For someone who won the sparring contest, I would have thought you'd have a stronger handshake than a sheila," He joked.

_Crap, does he know already? Of course Alice was right when isn't she! They're going to find within the week of us even getting there, how do I get off the list…._

He (thankfully) thought my mortified silence was about something else, "Hey sorry mate, I was just kidding. I'm sure by the time they are finished with us you'll have a killer handshake."

I smiled weakly at him, "Thanks."

"Hey, no problem. It was great meeting you two. Hopefully I'll see your scrawny butts out on the field in 4 weeks," he left with a friendly smile and a wave.

It took every single power in me not to either burst out laughing at him, crying because of my hand, or screaming at the sheer stupidity of it all… preferably not all at once of course. "Alice," I hissed.

She turned around like a zombie, like she still couldn't believe what just happened. "Bella, I thought he was going to start a fight… are men always this unpredictable?"

"Alice, you're the one that has actually been almost married and the hit with the men so how would I know?" She rolled her eyes at me, "Anyway, we need to find the people we signed up with, and get off that list!" I whisper screamed the last part, she nodded frantically and we ran back towards the desk. As we were I realised how little I had actually thought this through, what would I say to Ben? To anyone? I couldn't just up and leave them…

It didn't take too long to find the table again, even with all the people cramming the streets. Only thing was, the sign up papers weren't there and neither was anyone who looked like they belonged to the army. Standing on tippy toes, I caught a quick glimpse of some messy copper hair and immediately thought of the hot captain when I signed up. "Alice, over here!" I shouted before running towards his general direction. I wasn't too worried about her; she was quite fast at running and caught up with me quickly. It looked like he had put his cap on, and in my frantic searching I managed to crash into someone tall, hard and lean. When I opened my eyes, I was met with brilliant green eyes, smooth skin and high cheekbones. _Well, I found him at least_ I went to get off him, but couldn't, his arms were around my waist. Not that you could tell of course, this heavy armour didn't exactly do anything to create the perfect figure for women. I tried again, but this time a little harder, and he finally stopped staring at me and let go his death grip. I scrambled up as quickly as possible, Alice was standing there open mouthed. "Shut your mouth Al!" she did as I said.

The captain stood up and turned to me, brushing off his uniform. "And you are?" he asked coldly.

Alice and I quickly shared a look before I opened my mouth, "You see, we were just seeing how we would go today, and signed up in the spur of the moment, we didn't actually mean to-"

"Stop." I did, the commanding tone was there, "Are you the one that won today?"

"Y-yes sir"

"Good, we need fighters like you, and even if I could there isn't any way to get off the list. Either you some with us, or another family member does, it's up to you." He must have seen the panic cross my face, as his face softened. "I'm sorry, here, let me introduce myself. I'm Captain Edward Anthony Masen."

I tried to push back the lump in my throat, and smiled a little. "I'm Brian Swan, and this is my mate Albert Brandson. But you can just call us B and Al sir." Gosh he made me nervous, it looked like he was trying to read my eyes with that intense stare of his.

"Sir." Alice said smartly, with a salute. I looked at her like she was insane.

Edward laughed at her, "Well good to see at least someone is eager." He started to turn away before making eye contact again, and of all things I blushed. What. The. Hell. I haven't known him for very long, he was the Captain of the army training I was about to join, I was dressed like a MAN and I blushed? "Is there anything to do in this city that is noteworthy?"

I nodded, still fairly mortified. "Because of the carnival, fair thing there will be a dance later on tonight. It's big for the locals, and us who come from the outer skirts of town."

"Tell me, is a lady called," I swear he just shuddered, "Lauren going to be there?"

Before I could even attempt to answer Alice butted in, "Why I sure hope so, she sure can liven up a party. If you know what I mean!" She finished it off with a wink, completely horrifying me. The Captain just gave the both of us a disgusted look and stalked off.

_But I didn't even say anything… _

I turned to Alice, and just stared at her. We locked eyes and burst out laughing. "Can't breathe, can't breathe," she wheezed out.

"I can't believe you just said that, I thought the next line out of your mouth was going to be 'she is some good looking Shelia' and I think I would have had to hit you myself!" I laughed.

"What I can't believe is that you knocked him flat onto his back! Did you see the way he was staring at you, you either look incredibly hot or undeniably ugly for him to look at you that much."

"Hey!" I protested through spurts of laughter, "It's obviously the good looks."

Alice started walking back home, still clutching her stomach a little from laughing. I sighed and started following, "Wait up Alice, are we going to go to the dance tonight or staying in for the night?" She turned on her heel and gave a pointed look, "Fine we'll go," I sighed.

"There wasn't a choice for you Bella, it's cute you thought there was though," she smirked.

We walked the rest of the way home in silence; I automatically knew that I would go to hers, simply so she could dress me up for tonight. The bad thing for me is when my mouth isn't moving, the imaginary one in my head yabbers away. _So what is it exactly that I am going to do now? If I tell Ben what I am going to do he'll be heartbroken… If I don't tell him he'll be sick with worry about my safety. I could just never dress like this again… But then they would assume it was Ben who signed up and take him… I couldn't live with myself if I ever did that to him, He is already hurt and I wouldn't want to further that pain. No it's best if I left him to settle down with Angela, she's already like a sister to me anyway, so hopefully she will become one! I got myself into this mess and I can get myself out, anyway training doesn't start for another 4 weeks, so at least I have Christmas with him. _By the time I had decided to go and see how things went, we were at Alice's house.

It was much more… grand I guess, than mine. While mine was nice and simple, Alice had a Victorian style house, with gorgeous arch ways and staircases. I always felt like I was going to dirty the place up, as her mother Mary cleaned the house like the Prime Minister would drop by any second. I walked through the huge doorway and followed Alice to her room, where she promptly pushed me into their bathroom for a shower. That was one amenity that I wish I had at our place, mostly I wasn't able to ask the house was semi unsteady in its foundations and none of the builders wanted to risk adding things under the floorboards. I didn't mind, it meant the house was just like it was when our parents had it.

After the shower I was shoved in front of a mirror with what seemed like hundreds of light bulbs around it, "Seriously Alice, are you planning to run away with a burlesque group or something? When would you need all these lights around a single mirror?" She responded with a slap on my head as she had placed a number of different combs in her mouth to hold them; I just smiled sweetly in response.

After hours of torture, no not really Alice worked as fast as she talked so we were done in about half an hour, I was finally ready. "You're dress is in the cupboard over there Bella," She pointed to the one with the largest doors. I opened to find it full of dresses, none of which were specifically marked out for me.

"Alice which one is for me?"

She shrugged, "Pick one."

"Alice, I can't do that! These are all yours, besides I probably wouldn't fit into any of them." To which she just rolled her eyes at me, with a sigh I turned back to the masses of clothes. I slowly waded in, not wanting to rip anything accidently, after five minutes I found a dress with an A line skirt and matching little jacket to go with it. As I pulled it out I noticed that it was strapless, and Alice had the exact same dress… in four colours. "Alice what's with the double ups?" I yelled out, I wasn't sure she heard me. I grabbed the Russet coloured one and made the neck breaking journey out of Narnia. I stumbled out of the never ending wardrobe holding onto the dress like it would save me, only to find Alice dressed and ready. "Hey, not fair! Why do you take less time?"

"Because I do this everyday, so when I need to get ready there isn't as much to do" she grinned, "There are some people who put more thought into getting ready than you Bella."

I sighed again, it seems like that's all I do nowadays, as I can't seem to win. "Before you run off and leave me, can I at least get dressed?" she nodded. She left the room for me, and I quickly slipped the dress on. I had just put the half jacket on when she burst through the door. "Alice! Heard of knocking before?"

She cocked her head, "Actually no, what is this extraordinary thing you call knocking?" She giggled, her eyes bright. "By the way, you look absolutely amazing; I love you in strong colours… especially red… goes really nicely with your darker hair…" She started staring at me, and to tell you the truth it was really unnerving me.

"Um Alice?" She shook her head abruptly, and let out a squeal, which made me squeal, which made Mary run up the stairs at full pelt screaming.

"I just had the best idea!" She screamed, just as Mary burst through the door.

"What's wrong? Is there a man up here?" She yelled, holding a piece of word over her shoulder.

"No Mum, no man. Just us girls." Alice winked at me, and I glared back.

"Oh… ok, well I need to finish cleaning so I will see you after the dance, and remember! NO boys, unless they are really handsome and well off and-"

"Yes thanks Mum, now goodbye!" Alice said quickly, and shut the door.

"Alice, Why on earth were you screaming for no reason?"

"Like I said, and idea… that is a secret. Oooohhhh!" she said, hands waving in front of her.

I just stared at her, "You're a crazy leprechaun, you know that right?"

"Well I did always think I looked good in green…"

"Alice, let's just go Okay?"

She smiled and linked arms with me, "Ready to go to the Ball?"

"As I'll ever be."

"Good, coz I really want to see if the Captain will actually turn up after our encounter this afternoon." I smiled with her, if he did show up he had nerves of steel.

The walk over to the centre of town was over quickly, but it wasn't a walk that I was looking forward to doing in the dark. The inner city was lighted but I was out of reach for those lights, but I had gotten Ben to install lights for the outside of our house so all should be good. "Bella, stop thinking and just enjoy the night, I'm sure we can find a young strapping man that isn't Mike to walk us home." As always Alice could read my mind, we were so attuned to each other.

"Just quickly, are you sure you want to try this training thing? I can do it by myself if you would prefer." She looked at me, shocked.

"Bella! We're in this together, and anyway I figured if we absolutely hate it we can just bail. But I think we are going to be absolutely fine, we are fit from all this walking, we can fight thanks to Ben, and better yet it will test my skills of fashion!" she smiled brightly.

I laughed, "Of course you would think of this experience in fashion terms," I said fondly.

"Well I need to get pay back on you somehow!"

EPOV

I heard light laughter approaching the door, a sweet almost bell like tinkling. The door opened to reveal the lady who won the pageant, and the brunette beauty I wanted to win. _My lucky night, I might even find out her name…_ for some reason I was trying to prove to myself that I liked women. Ever since today's incidents with the two men trying to get out of the training, I haven't stopped thinking about the brown eyes of the slightly taller one. And that scared the Hell out of me. I've never had even the slightest stirrings while talking to any other man, but as soon as I saw him on top of me I became flustered, and spoke harshly to scold myself, and only made him scared. Which hurt me. Again, I have no idea what was happening.

I walked over to the barman to get a drink so it wouldn't seem like I was staring at the two ladies… which I was, but would never admit. While calmly scanning the room, my eyes landed on Jasper. I waved him over, wanting someone to hang with.

"Hey." He said.

"Evening." Nothing was said for a few minutes.

"Captain-" he started.

"Edward," I said warmly.

"Uh, yes… Edward, this may seem… out of turn, but did you see the two ladies that walked in just then?"

I nodded, _better not be after the brunette_ I scowled/grinned internally, _HA! Not gay!_

"I'm afraid I may be developing feeling for the girl with black hair," he admitted shyly, _thank god! Never seen him this quiet though… interesting… _"I wanted your personal opinion," I nodded for him to continue talking, "Is it even possible for me to attempt a relationship, when we won't even be here in the next few weeks?"

I pondered the question. "My best advice would be to find out if she would even consider seeing you, " I said playfully, "Other than that, tell her you may not always be around, she may be ok with that."

He rolled his eyes, "Edward if my sister, Rosalie is anything to go by, I don't think she will be ok with it…" he stopped talking, looking at something behind me. It was the two girls.

"Hi, I'm Alice and this is Bella. Mind if we come and have a chat?"

_Well I'll be blowed…_

**Yep, so it took me absolutely ever to update, but hey it's not a one-shot! Hope you like it, I'm getting back into the swing of writing so hopefully I'll write out something… soon xxoo**

**Disclaimer: I do not own twilight or mulan... which this is loosely based on  
**


	3. Good Times

BPOV

As soon as we walked in I saw him. He stood out of the crowd like a beacon, I tried hard to listen to what Alice was saying to me, but I failed miserably. When she started to laugh I panicked and started laughing until we passed out of his earshot. She stopped laughing and turned to me quizzically.

"What the hell was that?"

I played it dumb, "What was what? I laughed along with you of course."

"Yes but I could tell you weren't listening, so I said that I had a tumour and laughed…"

I immediately blushed, "Sorry Alice, I was a bit distracted… just to check… do you actually?"

"Actually what?" damn leprechaun was playing with me.

"Have a tumour?"

She laughed, "No silly Bella, I was just saying that. But it's nice to know you would be worried if I told you that seriously, and not just laugh." She squeezed my arm and pulled me onto the dance floor.

"Aww come on Alice," I pleaded, "Just this once, no dancing!"

"But you are great at it!"

"You know very well that I'm not," Just then the one song I could actually connect with came on. **(A/N doing current songs for the whole story)**

_Couldn't walk the line inside the country scene,  
And disco was a flat up; sure no dancing queen.  
Couldn't really qualify for break-dancing; I just break it.  
Tried moving my body to the latest hit,  
Someone called the nurse; thought I was having a fit.  
I execute the moonwalk like I stepped in shit,  
I can't take it. _

_I Just Can't Shake It, Shake It, Shake It  
Oh No I Just Can't Shake It, Shake It  
{Oh!}  
I Just Can't Shake It, Shake It, Shake It_

Alice pulled me a little closer, "the main reason I pulled you out here is so then I could ask what had you so distracted." She winked.

Pretty sure she already knew, but wanted me to say it "Walking in I saw the Captain…"

She did a small happy squeal, "Really! That's great; I thought you were looking at the blonde one… I saw him on the judge's panel this morning and thought he was super cute! Glad you don't like him," she laughed for a little bit. She did a twirl, and when she was facing me again I saw an evil glint in her eye. "Let's go say hi!"

_What? To whom? _She started dragging me over to the barman, and I simply thought she needed a drink. Little did I know she had spotted the very two men we were talking about.

"Hi," she smiled coyly at the both of them. I just stood there like a stunned mullet, staring at the Captain. "I'm Alice and this is Bella," she continued gesturing towards my still face, "mind if we come and chat?" I don't know why but they both looked pretty stunned. The blonde one composed himself first.

"Why hello Alice," he spoke directly to her, I mentally rolled my eyes, all she had to do was pick a target and smile. "My name is Jasper." He stuck his hand out.

"Lovely to meet you sir," she giggled slightly and put her hand in his. He immediately bent over and kissed her on the back of her hand.

"Believe me, the pleasure is all mine." She giggled, again. "Would you care to dance?" she nodded quickly, he smiled and guided her over to the dance floor.

_She didn't even look at me! _I was shocked, and only a moment from dropping my jaw in disbelief. I only stopped myself because I could feel someone staring at me. I slowly turned to face the Captain. He was watching me, with an amused expression on his face. "Hi" I said.

"Evening, my name is Edward."

_I already knew that… _"Hi, I'm Bella." I was thinking of sticking my hand out but I didn't want a strength match again. He saw my hesitation and smiled warmly, and extended his own hand. I got a weird tingle up my arm, my eyes widened in response to the sensation and I quickly pulled back, my heart going a hundred miles an hour. There was an awkward silence that just kept growing, neither of us game enough to say anything. Fortunately someone else came up, unfortunately it was Mike.

"Oh goddammit!" I cursed under my breath. Edward raised his eyebrow at me, but before I could explain anything Mike came up behind me and place his hand on my shoulder. I tried to flinch away but his hand tightened and stopped me from moving, I had the sudden urge to flip him over onto his ass but I don't think I would have gotten away with that in a room full of people.

"Hey gorgeous," Mike whispered into my ear, "I was watching you at the contest today, I must say you looked mighty fine, but you look even better right now…" His hand went from my shoulder to around my waist, I wriggled trying to get out of the grip.

"Mike seriously, I've already hit you this morning, and you look like crap because of it," which he did, he had two black eyes and tape over his nose. "Are you sure you want to get into this right now?"

"Of course I do."

"You need to step away from her, right now." I had completely forgotten Edward was standing right there, somebody increase the awkwardmeter.

"Excuse me? Who are you to talk to me like that?" Mike asked angrily, removing his arm and walking up to Edward menacingly.

Edward seemed to grow a bit taller all of a sudden, and his face turned to a frosty, almost deadly face. That alone was enough to slow Mike down by a couple of seconds.

"I'm the guy who will drag your sorry excuse for a human being out into the street and gladly kick the crap out of you for talking in that manner to this young lady." By the end of that little speech his voice has dropped, I swear I got the chills. Mike had the same feeling, as he immediately turned and quickly walked out of the room, checking to make sure Edward wasn't following.

Edward hadn't moved from where he was standing, all he had done was clench his hands and work his jaw constantly. I walked up to him, ignoring the tingling I put my hand on his arm. He immediately turned his head and looked at me, I returned his gaze. I wasn't sure what I was doing, so I just looked at him, he still seemed furious, but after a while his body started to relax and he calmed down. He looked at my hand, which was still on my arm. I took that as a sign and went to move it away, but as quick as a whip his hand covered it and kept it there. "Thank you…" he whispered.

I smiled, "Thank you, I didn't want to dirty this dress while beating him up myself, hence you saved from the wrath of Alice," I was making the words overly dramatic, but I wanted to see him smile again.

He laughed softly, then sobered up, "No, really. Thank you, usually no-one is able to calm me down when I get into that sort of mood and I hate myself for what I do under that…" he shook his head, as if to clear it "red haze, I guess you can call it."

I had a sudden insane thought of hugging him, and to the huge surprise of myself… I did. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him close, I felt like I was being stretched, I didn't realise how tall he actually was. He went still for a moment, then took a huge inward breath and relaxed into me. I kept it short, even though I wanted to hold onto him a bit longer, but my toes were hurting from standing on them. While we weren't hugging anymore, he still had his hands on my hips soft and possessive at the same time. Granted my hands had linked themselves behind his neck, half caught in his hair. I blushed and looked down; one of his hands came up and pushed my chin back up so he could look at me. _Doesn't mean I have to look at him!_ I kept my eyes averted, never looking at his face. I started counting balloons, the number of people with drinks, girl to guy ratio… "Bella," he chuckled.

"Yes?" I asked, still not looking at him.

"Will you look at me so then I can ask you to dance?" I finally looked at him, immediately caught under his gaze.

"Well go on then, ask me," I huffed.

He smiled, "Would you like to dance?"

I shrugged, "May as well, it's not called a dance floor for nothing." He rolled his eyes, "but I must warn you, I will more than likely step on your toes."

"I'm quite fast, I bet you I can dodge them." He looked at me seriously, while guiding me though gatherings of people.

"Or I will fall."

He turned me to him, and held me close, his head came closer and he whispered in my ear, "Then I won't let you go."

I swear I just became a big mushy puddle, all I could do was lean in and let him lead. We danced for what felt like minutes, but it was actually almost two hours. True to his word, he held me close, so even when I did trip, I barely moved in his arms.

"Maybe I should dance with you more often," I said playfully.

"Maybe you should," he replied, eyes sparkling. I smiled at him, and turned away to look for Alice. I spotted her over by the door, obviously waiting for me, although she still had Jasper for company.

I grabbed Edward's hand, mentally praying he wouldn't get too offended with me and walked over to Alice and Jasper. Just before they spotted us, I felt his hand slip out of mine. I looked back, startled and unsure, he mouthed 'sorry' and gestured to Jasper. _Oh well…_

"Oh hey, there you are! I was wondering where you had gotten too," Alice said when we stopped in front the two of them, by the look she was giving me I was pretty sure she had been watching the whole night, "Before we walk home, might I steal Bella for a moment? Great thanks." Without waiting for a reply she grabbed my hand and hauled my ass to the bathroom.

"Alice, what's going on?" All of a sudden I was very tired and I just wanted to go to bed.

"We can't let these relationships go any further." She said, deadly serious.

That woke me up, "What? Why?"

"Because in less than a month's time we will be pretending to be wannabe soldiers, and they will be our commanding officers! If we become involved, how will we explain to them why we don't write or call? What if they get time off and go to meet us here? To find we're gone? Think Bella, of course we can't pursue them… even if they are both INSANELY good looking!" she giggled.

I sighed, of course she was right. I had thought of that, well maybe not… but if there was one thing I had learnt by being Alice's friend, it was do it her way. There was simply no other option with her, because she was pretty much always spot on. I nodded, "okay then, no talking to them between know and start of training."

She started back tracking, "Well I thought they could at least walk us home, after all it is late…" I smiled at her loop hole.

"Well I'll go back to my place so I don't have to tell him goodbye with you watching, and you can just go back to yours." She nodded in agreement. With another sigh I walked through the doors of the bathroom, and walked back up to Edward. "Hey Edward?"

"Yes?"

"Would you walk me home?"

His face lit up and I felt guilt already wrap around my intestines. He offered his arm and I took it, I gave a quick wave to Alice and Jasper who barely noticed anyway and turned out onto the lit street. We walked in silence for the whole way, I was wrapped up in my own little bubble, trying to think about what I was going to say to him and just happy I could be near him. When we reached the dirt part of the road, he looked at me like I was pulling a prank.

"Do you really live down here Bella?" he asked.

"Yes, why?"

"I just imagined you in something huge and grand I guess, I couldn't imagine anything less for someone as beautiful as you."

"Well I like my house, it suits me just fine." I wish he would stop making me feel all warm and fuzzy, because the sweeter he is the harder I will find it to tell him to get lost. _Man up Bella!_

"I'm sure it's lovely," Was all he said.

I wasn't too far in on the dirt road, just enough I always thought. When I stopped outside of my house, he looked at it, head cocked to one side. I had to laugh.

"What?" He asked, pulling me in closer.

"It's pitch black, and you're attempting to study my house like an architect!"

"Well maybe I just have exceptionally good eye sight."

I rolled my eyes, "Prove it then, what colour is my house?"

"It's not painted, the wood is left untouched, which makes it a brown," he smiled cockily at me.

"Fine, maybe you are good at one thing," I reluctantly said.

"I'm actually great at a couple of things Bella," I turned to him, not quite sure what he was getting at, only to find his face right next to mine. My breath hitched as his face came closer, my eyes started o flutter close as I awaited his kiss.

_What am I doing! I have to stop this NOW!_ "Stop" I whispered.

He froze. I reopened my eyes and pulled myself out of his embrace. "I'm afraid I don't have any romantic interest in you Edward." I stated coolly, hiding the inner emotions really well. "To be honest I was simply going to use you then never speak to you again, but it's obvious you are the clingy type." I almost flinched at his hurt expression. "Maybe next time I see you I won't be running in the opposite direction - just give me some space and we could be friends. See you." And with that I turned and left him standing in the street. Once I was inside I peeked through the window, what I saw almost broke my heart. He had his hands in his pockets and was staring at his feet, worst of all he hadn't moved from hat exact spot I had left him.

"I'm sorry," I whispered, "It had to be done…" I turned away, shoving my feeling down into my stomach and becoming uninterested in the whole thing. By the time I had reached my room, I didn't even care.

EPOV

_Did that really just happen?_ I was just friend zoned, if that. I thought the whole night had gone really well, except for that creep earlier though, Mitch or something. She had cared, and helped me calm down. No-one had ever been able to do that, not to mention she was as cute as hell when she blushed and had a killer smile.

I thought I did all the right moves, holding her tight through the dance… walking her home… stating how awesome I was – albeit minimally… it must have been the almost kiss. That one word managed to smash all dreams I may have thought up of seeing her again… granted there were a few words after that but the first one was the one that mattered. She had falsified her feelings, during her rant all I could think of was how confident she seemed, which made the words hurt that much more. Because she actually meant them.

It took me a moment to realise I was still standing on the street, and it was late, plus I needed to find Jasper. He was my ride back to the camp. I turned around and slowly walked back the other way before I realised I didn't know where Alice lived, I didn't even organise a meet up place with Jasper. _IDIOT! _I thought. I stopped and looked around.

Over to the right was another figure, also walking quite slow and dejected. They came closer and I saw it was Jasper, he looked up and relief flooded his features.

"Hey, glad I found you , let's get out of here." He said.

"Sure thing Jasper," we walked on for a little bit, it dawned on me that he looked the same way I felt at that moment, "You ok sir?"

He sighed, yep something was up. "Alice asked me never to see her again… she didn't use those words but that was the general meaning."

"Same happened with me and Bella." He looked at me.

"Seriously! I thought you two hit it off great."

"So did I, but apparently not to her… I thought you and Alice were getting along?"

"Apparently I had it wrong too…"

We kept walking and soon reach Jaspers car, we silently climbed in, stayed silent all the way to camp. It was killing me, usually we talk about random things but these girls had made us feel like Muppets. I sighed, "The hold they have over us." Jasper simply smiled.

Once I was in my tent, I went straight to the boxing gloves. I turned to my punching bag and took out all my hurt and frustration on it. It felt good to be able to actually do something rather than mope. Move my muscles in an almost animal instinct way.

By the time I was finished it was early morning, but the thoughts of Bella had lessened slightly and I was exhausted. Lying in bed I smiled to myself, _Soon I can take out this frustration at the newbies… Let's give them hell._

**Hey just wanted to say thanks to those who reviewed, crazy how that can make someone smile! If anyone was wondering the song was 'Just Can't Shake It' by Kate Miller-Heidke… Also I'm trying not to make Bella a sissy or anything, as she does have mad fighting skills… she takes her daily concrete :D**

**Hopefully I will write soon! Xxoo**

**Disclaimer: I own neither Twilight or Mulan, which this is loosely based around.**


	4. The Disguise

BPOV

Before I knew it, Christmas was over and Alice and I were getting all our affairs in order so we could go away for the training camp at the end of the week. It was Alice's idea to announce we were going away on holiday in the next couple of days; as per usual her parents fell for her dimpled smile and flawless charm. Ben however didn't take it very well at all.

"You're going where!"

"Adelaide," I resisted the urge to roll my eyes in frustration, "Ben the plans have already been made, in fact they were made before Christmas. Alice and I are going no matter what you say!" His chest puffed up immediately, "Ben," I said softly, walking up to him in our small kitchen, "I've had a hard time over the Christmas period, and so has Alice. We just need to get away from everything, even if it's only for a little while" For obvious reasons I hadn't told him what happened after the dance, Ben was a great bloke, but he was my brother first.

His shoulders deflated and I knew I had won the argument, "How long is the trip for?"

I jumped up and hugged him, smiling so big it hurt my cheeks, "Only a couple of months, but it could be shorter depending how bad the water is over there," I grimaced and he laughed at me, letting me go and ruffling my hair as he walked to his room.

"well then I hope the water is terrible and you come back on the first day," he said jokingly, he turned back to me fully serious, "I just don't like the idea of having you and Alice travelling alone. The world isn't that nice for two young girls to be by themselves."

This time I did roll my eyes at him, "Ben both Alice and I have done self-defence classes, you would know you were there, and you have taught me how to handle myself in a fight, and were going to be dressed as guys, _and_-"

"Yeah ok! I've got it, you're a bad ass little sis," he smiled fondly, "It's hard to remember that though when you're so small," all of a sudden he ran at me and picked me up, tickling me the whole time. I couldn't help but screech out like a galah, after a bit I started on my own attack. Ben was already holding me up so it was easy to reach up and hold my hands behind his neck, with one are looped under his armpit. I then cinched my legs around his waist, and used my core strength to come behind him, doing a really bad impression of a piggy back.

The whole time we were laughing incessantly, and didn't notice Alice or Angela until they started coughing. Ben and I looked up from the ground, as during the struggle he had attempted to fall on me, and had failed epically.

Alice raised an eyebrow, "Are you two done yet? As Bella and I need to go shopping for our upcoming trip."

I sighed, and started pushing Ben off me, "Hey Alice, Angela." Ben jumped up quickly, seeming nervous in front of Angela, dusting himself off and such. I contained a giggle, "Come' on Alice, we better go and leave these two alone." I looped my arm through Alice's, and as we walked through the front door I waggled my eyebrows at Ben, who to my outright pleasure blushed a deep crimson.

Alice and I walked in silence for about twenty metres before we looked at each other and started laughing. "I cannot believe the colour he turned," Alice chuckled, "I thought it was only you that blushed in the family"

"No, he does too, but it takes a bit of embarresment for that to happen," I smiled, "He must really like Angela."

"Well that's good, coz Angela really likes him, and they belong with each other," I looked at Alice, "Hey, I just have a feeling!"

"One of your psychic feelings again Alice, or a feeling based on the fact they can't stay away from each other at all… ever?"

She smiled at me, "both." I laughed in response.

"So are we actually going shopping or was that just a ploy to save me?" I asked hopefully.

She snorted, "As if I would joke about shopping."

"If only miracles happened," I muttered darkly.

"Huh? What was that?"

"Nothing!" I said perkily, "so what are we shopping for exactly?"

She gave me a look and lent in to whisper, "To the Army supply guys, I don't know about you but I don't exactly have camouflage uniforms in my closet."

I looked at her in confusion, "Don't they hand out uniforms on the day?"

She gave me a dumbfounded look, "So you want to go in, first day there strip off in front of all the blokes and find out there isn't a size small enough for you?"

I thought about that for a second, "Do guys really undress in front of each other?" I asked, slightly unbelieving.

"You're the one that lives with a brother, you tell me."

Without realising I shuddered, there have been many a time that Ben has simply started removing clothes for whatever purpose, whether as a victory lap at beating me, or on his way to the shower from the dining room of all places. "Yeah ok," I agreed, "Let's go have a look, but we should get a couple of sets so they won't try and push things onto us."

Alice nodded in agreement, "but first things first," she said, "We need to look the part." She gave me a grin that I am sure was meant to be amorous but I saw right through it. I translated that into 'make-over'. But before I could protest she had dragged me into a hair salon, pushed me down onto one of the overstuffed chairs, and started telling the hair dresser what 'I' wanted. Soon enough my long hair was getting chopped off, and styled into a short messy… thing. I really couldn't describe it, it wasn't quite a bob, but it was around ear length, with a side cut fringe and heavily layered.

"So what do you think?" I turned to look at Alice, who was also getting her hair done.

"I actually like it," I said.

"Really!" She asked excitedly.

I looked at my reflection again; it looked like the lady had put darker tints through the lower layers, which made it look like the sun had bleached the top of the hair. The way the fringe was cut meant it could be split into a shaggy look or swept aside, either way it helped hide my high cheek bones and it made my eyes look smaller. I smiled, "I really do Alice." She glowed with happiness, "By the way, what are you getting done?" I shouldn't have asked, it all came out in a blur and to be honest I only grabbed little bits of the explanation. "So you're getting it shorter?" I finally asked.

She rolled her eyes, "Yes Bella, I guess that's the gist of it."

I shrugged and stood up, automatically running my hands through my hair, surprised when I ran out of hair. _I think that will take some getting used to…_ Still feeling my hair, I went over and paid for my cut, then sat down waiting for Alice. She was finished soon after me, and after she paid as well she dragged me down the street and into another store.

I looked around the store, unsure of what I was looking at. "Alice, why are we in a wig shop, after we had our hair cut?" I asked.

Instead of answering she pulled me to the back of the shop, where a small display of stick on beard could be seen. "We are here," dramatic pause, "for these!" she exclaimed while gesturing wildly in the general direction of the beard things. "Oh and by the way, until we leave, _do not_ shave your legs." She grinned.

I must have had a blank look on my face as she turned away and called an attendant over, again I had no idea what she was saying to the poor man but somehow he agreed to let us try some on to buy. I had a little look over the display, there really wasn't a lot and I needed something similar to my hair. With a sigh I pointed to the least expensive brown stubble thing, and Alice had the man pull it out. After I put it on a little mirror was brought over, and I had to stop myself from falling over. I looked like a man. Gone were my even remotely feminine looks, instead of a soft face girl was a rough cut stubble guy. I looked up from the mirror to burst out laughing. Alice was trying on a French style black moustache.

She looked up, "What? Too much?" She asked innocently.

All I could do was nod, "Oh ok," she sighed "I'll just go for the marmite smear, would maybe make me less inconspicuous." She then turned to the assistant again, "Have you got more of these two styles out the back?" He nodded and ran off to retrieve them.

"Hey Alice," she turned to me, "What did you end up saying?"

"Huh?"

"As to why we are buying beards?"

"Oh that," she grinned manically, "I told him you and I were _together_, but we liked one of us looking like a guy whenever we went out."

"Oh my god Alice!" I whisper shouted, "You didn't!"

"I most certainly did, so play your part," she winked as the man came back with his hands full of packets, "Perfect darling! Let's go pay for these," she linked her arm through mine like we normally did, but she leaned in really close. The guy gave a knowing look and ran up the bill, which Alice paid. She didn't let go of my arm until we were out of the assistant's sight.

I immediately jumped away from her, shaking my head, "never again Alice, never EVER."

"Yeah ok, calm your farm," she rummaged through the bag, now quickly put on your beard and let's get some clothes!" So after replacing our fake beards she walked off, obviously expecting me to follow.

"Alice, how is it that you know where all these shops are?"

She shrugged, "I know where all the shops are Bella." She then pushed open the door to what would, hopefully, be the last store.

As soon as I walked in I was pulled sideways into a rack of clothes, and a hand was clamped over my mouth to stop me shrieking. I turned to see Alice, who mouthed _be quiet _to me, I nodded and she let go of me. I raised an eyebrow, silently asking what was wrong. In response Alice jerked her head over to the other side of the store. Frowning I peeped over the rack, and almost immediately I dropped back down.

"Alice, they're here! Why are they here… they shouldn't be… the training thing… is what, two days away? Why are they here of all places…" a hand clamped over my mouth.

"Bella, we are in disguise, at least act like a man." I nodded, and the hand was removed once again.

We straightened up and mentally shook ourselves, and after giving each other a nod we walked around to the uniform area, grateful we both looked like guys. It had been a while since I have seen him, but all the feelings came rushing back. I could literally feel my knees start to wobble, and all I could do was stare at him. He turned and saw me, a small smile pulled his lips up, "Hello Albert, Brian." He nodded to each of us.

"Afternoon sir," I said almost breathlessly, to which I coughed and lowered my voice, "What are you doing in town so close to the training?"

He looked away, and I saw a flash of hurt cross his face, "I came to see someone, but they are not here… "Either way I leave tonight."

I nodded "So do I." A silence started up, one that stretched for ever. I looked for Alice, only to see her talking to Jasper. I turned back to Edward, avoiding his eyes, and looking around him. He chuckled at me, "Sir?" I asked.

"I'm not going to bite, yet," he laughed, "Wait for Monday, and then you can be scared." He walked over to Jasper signalling he was ready to leave, and both of them walked out without a second glance.

Alice immediately came over, "Gosh that was hard," she sighed. All I could do was nod, I had really wanted to pick up where we left of before I cut him down, but that's a bit hard when you look like a guy.

"Let's just get this over and done with Alice, I don't think I would handle myself like a man if he came back in."

"Yeah, me too…"

We quickly gathered some uniforms and tried on sizes until we had enough, Alice also got long lengths of cloth, and simply pointed to her breasts when I asked her about it. When we got to her place we quickly packed her stuff, and surprisingly there wasn't a lot. Usually for one night away Alice would take her whole wardrobe but she only had one suitcase in this instance. We then went to my place, which was our final stop. As I was packing, Ben came up to say good bye.

"You know I won't be gone very long," I said as we pulled apart.

"I know… doesn't mean I won't miss you. After all, who would wash the dishes!" I rolled my eyes and punched him in the shoulder.

"Bella! The train will be there soon, we better get going!" Alice yelled.

I turned and picked up my single suitcase, as I turned to the door I tripped, automatically I put my arms out to brace myself but I was caught instead. Ben pulled me up so I was horizontal again, and gave me a sad smile.

I meant to give him a cheerful smile in return but it came out sad as well, I gave him one last hug before walking out the door with Alice.

"So Brian, are you excited?"

I chuckled, she was starting with the names early, "Not at all Albert, in fact I am quite excited to do some ass kicking!"

"Need I remind you Brian, this training is only for the Army reserve? We won't be doing any _real_ ass kicking."

"Yes, Albert I do understand, but surely nothing is wrong with a little friendly competition every now and again?"

"No Brian, there is nothing wrong with that. Also Brian, why are we constantly saying each other's names?"

"Why I'm not sure Albert, perhaps we are actually both a little nervous and trying to make light of the situation?"

She looked at me, with a small smile, "Why Brian I think you are absolutely correct."

We had made it to the train station, and there were only a few tired looking men, most of them I recognised from the tournament. Including the huge hulking mass that was making its way over to us, I remembered him being pretty friendly though.

"Hey guys!" The mountain said, "Mind if I sit with you guys?"

"Sure Emmett, that's fine with us, after all we could use some comic relief on the five hour trip to… wait where are we even going?"

"Somewhere near Newcastle, can't quite remember the town name…" I said.

"Oh well, time to go!" and with a huge grin, that made him so very handsome, he bounded onto the train with 'Albert' and I following.

EPOV

The encounter with Brian and Albert had made me a little unsettled; I hadn't been expecting to see them until the train ride. Jasper and I had been camping on the outskirts of town, and every now and again we would see the two girls that had given us that wonderful and terrible night. I had spent many nights wide awake lying in bed, wondering what had really happened on that night. The conclusion I had come up with is that she had distanced herself for some unknown reason; after all, she had been drawn to me as I was drawn to her.

Today was the day I would go into town with Jasper, and confront her as to why she really pushed me away. I had made my way up to her front door and was about to knock when I heard giggling, I immediately froze. It sounded like her but I couldn't be sure, it had been so long since the dance at which I saw her. The giggling stopped, and it was replaced with a lady sighing, I strained my ears, "Ben, what are you doing?" she didn't sound fearful, but I felt jealousy spring up, and I went to the window near the voices.

What I saw hurt more than anything she could have said to me. There she was, her brown hair falling down her back, with a man's face obscuring her own. They were kissing. And she wasn't pushing him away. Hurt and confused I had pulled away from the window and walked back to the main street leading to the centre of town. I had met up with Jasper and gone to the uniform store to order a variety of sizes for the men who did not have their own when they all eventually turned up at the designated area.

There were men coming from all over Queensland and NSW to join our recruitment, thankfully there were also multiple captains and generals, each assigned to the particular group we arrive with. So while Jasper and I were waiting at the bus station, we went over the forms again to familiarise ourselves. By the time we were finished, most of the men had turned up, so we shepherd them into the carriages and told them to find people to room with for the journey.

Eventually everyone was aboard, I went at the end of the train, and Jasper went to the front. Each of us would find people to sit with for the duration of the trip, but also do rotational checks within each of our halves. While walking down the corridor, dreading who I would be forced to sit with, a door slid open suddenly next to me. I then felt something small, but surprisingly warm run into me, knocking me over. I held onto the object, only to realise it was a _someone. _A someone with warm brown eyes.

**So things are swinging along, thankfully, and we should get to more stuff soon… Thank you to everyone who reviewed and/or is following the story, I appreciate it **

**Disclaimer: I own neither Twilight or Mulan, which this is loosely based around.**


	5. Games & Trains

BPOV

The train had started moving, but Alice and I could not sit down until Emmett had thoroughly inspected each and every room on the carriage. After a bit he pulled Alice and I down to the very back of the train. He stood at a door that looked like every single other door, but stood there in a way that neither of us could get in, he then took in a deep breath, "I present to thee, thy carriage!" With a flourish he pulled open the door and bowed to let us through. With anticipation I looked in, only to be majorly disappointed.

"Is this it?" Alice asked.

Emmett frowned, "What do you mean?" He demanded, "This is the finest sitting area on the whole train, here; let me point out the features provided." Like a little boy he stormed into the centre of the space, and stood tall. "I can stand upright in this room."

I contained a giggle, his hair was brushing the ceiling, and by the looks of it he had his knees bent. He continued on, "There are two seats lining the walls," I was about to say every room had that, but he held up his hand, "I have also found these seats to be the squishiest."

"How do you know that, Emmett?" I asked.

"Why my dear Brian, I came to that conclusion after jumping on each of the cushions," This time I did laugh, if he couldn't even stand straight, how on earth did he manage to jump up and down?

He gave me a mock glare, "Sorry Emmett, just the mental picture… I'm sure you looked very…" I struggled to find the right word.

"Dignified?" he answered for me, "Yes I held myself in way only a warrior would." I could only nod in agreement.

"Are those the two features?" Alice asked dryly, "No half naked me-ah-women going to leap out?" I stared at Alice, glad she caught her slip, but at the same time hoping Emmett didn't catch on…

He gave Alice a weird look, but gave no indication of calling her out on it, "Actually, there is a third feature," again he became overly dramatic, and walked over to the curtains that were closed. "I give you… The View!" excitedly he pulled the curtain back, and I was pleasantly surprised.

As this particular cabin was at the back it had another window pane, giving us the view behind us as the train was in motion. It made it seem like the train was going much faster than it was, while the scenery was quite beautiful, I suddenly felt nauseous. Alice noticed, "Brian, are you ok?"

"What's wrong with him?" Emmett started coming closer to me, but it just made me feel overly claustrophobic. Needing to get out, I pulled the now closed door open, and without looking ran straight out.

The corridor must have been narrower than I thought because I ran straight into the wall, cursing my clumsiness and wondering why I wasn't flat on my back, I opened my eyes. Big mistake. All I could see was green, and it was then I felt his arms around my waist. I immediately blushed and turned my head so what was left of my hair would cover my face.

He hadn't let go, and it was Alice clearing her throat that made him straighten up, and finally let me go. "H-hi there Captain," I stuttered, still flustered after being so close to him.

His hand went up to his hair, running his fingers through it. Involuntarily I watched the motion, having a sudden urge to run my own hands through his hair; I bit my lip to distract myself. His eyes locked onto my lips as I bit them softly, "Evening Brian, Albert, Emmett." He acknowledged everyone but he was still only staring at me. I could almost hear Alice's voice in my head saying '_awkward…'_

Thankfully Emmett interrupted the colossal stare down that was starting to happen, "So – Uh, Captain, would you care to sit with us?"

Edward's face closed off, and he turned away from me, "Yes Emmett, I think I will sit with you." And with that he walked in and sat down.

I quickly pulled Alice away, "We'll be just a minute," I said over my shoulder. Once we were out of earshot I quickly turned to Alice, "I don't think I can be in the same room with him for five hours Alice!"

"Ahh, you don't _think_, therefore you _will _be able to."

"Alice come on! Around Emmett it's easy to act like a guy, he's so easy going and fun, but Edwards… he's just…" I was lost for words.

Her expression softened, "Its ok Bella, If Jasper was in the same room as me for too long I'd probably jump him before an hour had passed. But I'm here for you; we can get through this together, ok?" I nodded and she pulled me into a hug. I tucked my head down because she's so much smaller, and attempted to work out all the emotions running through my head – including the big fluttering feeling in my tummy.

"Albert! Brian! I'll find you eventually!" Emmett's booming voice came before Alice and I could completely let go of each other, and we were caught holding each other's waists. I'm sure each of our faces held equal amounts of shock and mortification, but Emmett just took it all in his stride. "Hey, there you guys are, can you come back already so I'm not the only one sitting in silence?"

"What do you mean" Alice asked.

"Well," He began, "Mr I'm-The-Coolest-Captain-Ever, won't even speak to me. He's just sitting there looking out of the window, taking up one of the whole seats!"

"Aww diddums, will you be ok?" I said/

He grimaced, "I think so, I just need entertainment for the trip, not a wall to watch." Alice and I both nodded in agreement. "Good, so let's go and play some games!"

"What sort of games Emmett?" I asked warily.

He just grinned at me, showing his perfect dimples. "You can find out when we get there."

With a sigh I followed him back to our little room, I looked in carefully, afraid of the mood I might find Edward in. He seemed peaceful, just sitting and watching the world go past. Emmett was right that he was spread out, but he seemed like at any sign of danger he could jump up and fight. He had his arms crossed over his chest, and that action had caused his shirt to ride up a little, showing his lower abdomen and a perfect V-shape at his hips. I couldn't help staring, and it was his movement that demanded I drag my eyes up to his face. He quickly pulled his shirt down, much to my disappointment, and sat up properly so there was another space. Emmett and Alice quickly took up the other seat, leaving me no choice but to sit next to Edward. I shot Alice a glare before I slowly made my way over to the seat, and gingerly sat down.

Emmett's face was still lit up, even though no-one was speaking. I sighed, "So Emmett, what games did you have in mind?"

"Well, I was thinking for the first game we could break the ice with a fat penguin."

Alice snorted, and I rolled my eyes, "Is that the best you've got?" I asked.

"Actually no," His face suddenly became quite impish, "Since we're all men," I resisted the urge to roll my eyes again, "I thought we could start off with a truth or dare session." The malicious glint was still in his eyes, telling me there was something specific he wanted to humiliate me with. Unfortunately for him, my many dares with Ben had prepared me, that and whenever I'm challenged I can never let it go.

I smirked at him, "You're on mate." I turned to Edward, I already knew Alice would be in, "What about you Captain?"

He thought about it for a second, giving me an opportunity to appreciate how gorgeous he is, "I'm in as well, although I think for the duration of the trip you can all call me Edward. Considering it isn't really a formal setting." He shrugged.

"Yep sure, we can handle that," Alice said, "Now who wants to go first?"

Just as I expected Emmett spoke up, "I will," he said quickly, he turned to Alice, "Albert, truth or dare."

She looked at him carefully, "Truth."

His face fell, "Ummm… why were you hugging Brian earlier?" I felt myself stiffen as I stared at Alice, waiting for her answer.

She laughed, "Is that the best you can come up with?" he shrugged nonchalantly, "Ok well, Brian and I are close friends and he was still feeling the aftereffects of his..." She cocked her head to the side, "episode." Emmett grumbled but didn't actually say anything, I had a feeling he was hoping for a juicier piece of info. "Okay, my turn," Alice said brightly, she turned to me. "Truth or dare Brian?"

I held my chin up, and looked her straight in the eyes, "Dare." She grinned wickedly, and pulled out a bottle of vodka from her knapsack. My eyes widened at the bottle, "Why do you have that? Alcohol isn't allowed at the camp!"

"It most certainly is not." Edward said sternly.

She put her puppy dog/innocent face on, "But that's why I have it on the train, to drink on the way there. I'm sure there won't be any left by the time we get there," to my horror she winked at me. What happened to 'we can get through this'? The goddamn leprechaun was going to pay, she knew I was a lightweight… unless…

"Did you plan this!?" I hissed at her.

"Nope, just an opportunity that presented itself, and you know I'm an opportunist."

I nodded, and thought of a loop hole to get out of what she was planning, "But Albert I don't see any glasses." I smirked at her.

"My, my, my, dear Brian, we are men," she grinned triumphantly, "We shall drink straight from the bottle."

My face fell; there was no way to get out of this one. Even Edward seemed to be amused by the prospect of the alcohol; therefore I couldn't use him as a scapegoat. I sighed and nodded at Alice, "What did you have in mind?"

She started laughing, "every time you say a word with the letter 'e' in it, you take a swig!"

My mouth dropped open, "Albert, you can't be serious!"

"Ah ah ah! That's three swigs already, careful Brian, you may be drinking this whole bottle by yourself." She said gleefully.

Glaring at her I took the bottle and took the swigs as quickly as possible, grimacing as the taste hit the back of my throat. Almost a couple of seconds I felt a little warmer, and an idea came into my mind. "Al-" I left it at that, "Truth or dar" I sounded retarded, and I could see the fun Alice was having with it.

"Sorry, what was that last word?"

I glared at her, getting the bottle ready, "Dare!" and before she could say anything I took another drink. I turned to Edward, "You know… what I said, didn't you?" _This was so hard!_ He nodded, silent laughter making his shoulders double over. I couldn't help noticing the crinkle lines next to his eyes, making him look really young… not that he was that old. "So, Al. Which… choice?" She laughed again, "Grrrrr…" I grumbled, drinking again.

"I choose, Dare," she smiled, holding onto Emmett so she didn't fall off the chair laughing.

I thought about it how I would word this one… it was getting harder to concentrate, as I drank more, I forgot about not saying 'e' then I said and had to drink again… a vicious cycle. "You go," I stopped. '_In here? There? Under? Below? Maybe she'll be nice…' _"In." Was all I said, while pointing at the compartment below the seat, which had more than enough room for her.

Her eyes widened, glad she understood I smiled, "How long?" she asked.

I grinned even wider, because of the letter restriction the smallest number that seemed reasonable was, "Forty min." she kneeled down to get in, "But still play," I added.

She scowled at me but got in, and then a muffled noise came from where she was "Edward!" I was pretty sure she was yelling. "Truth or Dare!"

"Dare." He said.

"What!?"

"Dare!"

"WHAT!?"

"HE SAID DARE YOU IDIOT!" I screamed at her.

"Two drinks missy!" I scowled, much like she did but took the drinks. "Ok Edward! I want you to go running down the corridor screaming 'bloody murder' then faint!"

He looked horrified, and I giggled at him. Emmett gave me another look, and I winked in response… I looked at the bottle and winked at it, and then I winked at Edward. "Brian, I think you have had enough…" Edward said.

"Nope," another drink," I do not, think I am … finish-d? Oh to hell with it!" I took another drink. "You have to answer him," I got really close to Edward, "Mate." Emmett was laughing uncontrollably, and Alice was screaming to be told what was happening, and I was just… drinking more.

Edward sighed and yelled back at Alice, "No I can't do that one, I'm still a Captain, in charge of these men. They can't laugh or look down on me."

I strained my ears for her response, hearing a little 'oh' before, "Alright, hold Brian's hand for the next hour!" I felt my face light up, smiling widely I turned and grabbed Edwards hand.

"Al! It's so soft!" Edward was staring at me like I was mentally retarded, which I probably was. "What?" I asked him "Are you a homophobe?" Still looking at him I took two drinks, the bottle was feeling seriously light now.

He frowned "No, but you acting like an idiot is concerning." I lifted our joined hands, well I think he was holding on, either way I was holding on tight enough for the both of us, and attempted to focus on his face. I opened my mouth to tell him that I didn't need taking care of, but instead of words, vomit came up.

I looked at the clear yet chunky mixture that landed on Edwards lap, I turned to Emmett, "I don't feel too good anymore…" and promptly passed out.

…

When I became conscious again, the first thing I felt was a loud pounding noise, and for a split second I thought _'who the hell would have loud music on?' _before realising it was coming from within my head. I brought my hands up to my face and groaned, attempting to remember what had happened to get me this way. I vaguely remember Alice showing me the bottle of vodka, and me drinking nearly the whole bottle, Emmett was there… and so was…

"SHIT!" I exclaimed, bolting upright in my bed. Nearly falling back down I was so woozy in the head. Instead I stuck my arms behind me and propped myself up, doing this also enabled me to look around where I was.

I was in a small tent, canvas by the looks of it; it was still a little dark so I could only just make out the body of another person in the tent with me. The Person stirred, moaning. "Al?" I asked tentatively.

"Yes B?" She started to sit up slowly, "Pray tell, why on earth are you swearing so loudly?"

I put my face in my hands, and mumbled "Was Edward really there in our cabin?" All I could hear in reply was her fits of giggles, "Oi! Was he?" She nodded, her face scrunched up to try and stop more laughter from escaping. "The I re-iterate, SHIT" I groaned.

"Bells, do you remember anything before passing out?" Her laughter wasn't stopping, and immediately I got a sinking sensation in the pit of my stomach.

"What happened?"

"You kind of… had your lunch make a reappearance… on Edward," I felt my mouth open in horror and humiliation, I swear I was in shock, unfortunately she continued her story, "Also, when you passed out, you kind of…" she was literally shaking like a leaf, "fell onto Edward, and somehow, put your arms around his waist… and … and your… head in his lap!"

I let myself fall back onto my bed, listening to Alice cackling away like the little witch she is. "Hoe could you Alice! Seriously, vodka?"

"Seemed like a good idea at the time, it was hilarious for Emmett and I."

"I bet it was…" I groaned, "Today is going to be hell."

"You're telling me, there was an announcement last night about groups we will be training in, and guess who your instructor is?" he laughter doubled.

I looked at her, "No… you can't be serious!"

She nodded, "Even I couldn't have set this up any better!"

I rolled my eyes, I had a feeling she definitely had an inkling to this outcome, and she just made it worse for me. _Sigh, today is DEFINITELY going to be a long and hideous day…_

EPOV

I was fuming, I mean who wouldn't be? I just had a piece of crap lightweight army recruit vomit on me. I tried to appear calm and collected, but on the inside I was ready to smash through the moving train. Emmett had lost all control, and fallen onto the floor, enabling Albert to be released. As soon as he saw what had happened he too, doubled over in laughter. To my horror, things got worse. When Brian fell to the side, he was slumped against me, but now he seemed to be stirring. His arms came up around my torso, and his head practically fell into my lap.

There was a slight splash sound, just before pain made its way up through my whole body. The air left my lungs, and a few bright flashes before my eyes. I tried to remain as still as possible, attempting to fool Emmett and Albert, I think it mostly worked because they were still laughing too much to notice. Once I had recovered, I out what Jasper calls my 'authority' voice.

"Now," They stopped laughing and righted themselves, "Albert pick Brian up and place him on the floor." He came over, but seemed to struggle with picking him up, it ended up more as a pull/drag action. "Emmett, would you please reach up to the bags and pull down my bag, then you and Albert can wait outside of the room as I change." Both did what I said but I could hear muffled laughter once the door was closed. I quickly changed, and called them back in.

For the rest of the trip I was silent, thinking of the things I would have to get Brian's group leader do to him as payback. When the train stopped, Emmett made a move to pick Brian up. All of a sudden I felt jealousy rip through me, "Stop" I snarled. He looked at me in surprise.

"Captain?"

I took a quick breath to calm down, completely mortified by these feelings running through me, "There will be a quick debriefing once you get off the train, I shall find a tent for him." I turned to Albert, "I assume you two will be bunking together."

"Yes sir."

I nodded, and they walked out. I stared at Brian for a few seconds, figuring out what I would do. I stooped down low to get my knees under me, put my arms under him the used a fair bit of strength to push up. I nearly jumped up into the air, I was expecting him to be much heavier. Walking out of the train, I walked quickly to the set up tents, opening the first tent I found and putting him in. Accidently my hand skimmed across his stomach, and I marvelled at how soft his skin was, and so white… yet it looked like cream… _holy shit_.

As soon as he was lying comfortably, I ran from the tent to the large crowd that was gathering. I slowed as I approached and shook my arms out, but I still couldn't shake the feeling of his skin under my hands. Never in my life had I felt like that with a man, and to be honest never that intense with a woman either… well maybe one other, but she had found herself another man.

I couldn't believe it… Could I be gay?

**Hey, hope it was worth the wait! School and life are still as busy as ever so who knows when I'll next update, fingers crossed it will be soon!**

**Disclaimer: I own neither twilight or mulan, which this is loosely based around. **


	6. Decisions

BPOV

After groaning for a bit, I decided it was better to try and get a little bit more sleep before I was expected to be up for breakfast. It didn't feel like I had closed my eyes for very long before I heard the horn sound, a loud shrill sound that had me sitting up seconds after the note had sounded. I sighed, rubbed my eyes, and looked at Alice. Somehow she was still fast asleep, while looking at her sleeping form, a little prank crept into my mind. Not anything huge, payback for last night needed hours put into it… and more than likely a little dose of the childish entertainment that came from Emmett.

Focusing on back on the task at hand, I quickly got up and had a little rummage through her rucksack, grabbing all her army gear. Putting it in a pile on my bed, I then quickly changed into army gear for the day, placed all my fake hair on, and then grabbed my extra clothes as well. I walked out of the tent , having a bit of a laugh imagining Alice's face when she woke up and found she had no clothes to wear. I was considering hiding them, but instead I just sat next to the tent, I wasn't _that _suicidal.

The second, and final, horn rang out; my ears were still not impressed. I heard her start to stir, just the slight rustling of bedding, which gave way to little mutterings about needing to pee. Still trying to hold in the beginnings of my laughter, I looked up and out across the field where all the tents were set up. I noticed that quite a few of the men were up, and that Emmett seemed to be standing by himself. I didn't get up, but threw a cautionary hand wave his way. He saw me, smiled and started to make his way over.

"Hey the-" before he could finish, I quickly put my finger to my lips in a 'hush' movement. He looked at me quizzically.

In response I patted the grass next to me, and he obliged, sitting down quietly. "I have all of his clothes," I whispered to him.

His smile grew, "How'd you manage that?"

"Well he hadn't woken up after the first horn, and I wanted to get some payback for last night…"

"Wait, is this it?" he asked, "This is the best you could come up with after last night?"

I smiled evilly, "No Emmett, this," I gestured to the clothes, "Is just the entrée."

"Ah, so what's for the main course?"

I shrugged, "not sure yet, care to be my sues chef?"

"I thought you'd never ask." I gave him a warm smile in response.

I was about to comment on what was taking 'him' so long, when a muffled shriek came from the tent, followed by a string of profanities.

"Where, in the name of all that is holy are my CLOTHES!" Emmett and I just sat there, silently shaking. "I should've known B would do something like this on the first day of this piece of shit camp!"

An involuntary snort escaped me, and I turned to Emmett, wide eyed but still laughing. Emmett gave me a hit on the shoulder, while it may have seen gentle to him, the effect was much greater. I was pushed forward, hitting my chin against the hard ground.

"Shit, Brian! You ok?"

I rolled over to face Emmett; as soon as our eyes met we burst out laughing.

"You Jerk! Give me back my clothes!" Out came Alice, with all her get up on, but her body was wrapped in one of the blankets. The look on her face could've killed Bambi.

Still laughing, I just threw her clothes at her and attempted to stand and pick up the clothes I had dropped. After laughing so much my stomach was hurting so much and my legs had turned to jelly. I had to take some really deep breaths to calm myself, before I could step back into the tent to chuck everything back into my bag. Without saying a word to Alice's scowling face, I quickly left. I just knew that if I looked at her face I would either soil my pants, or just start up laughing again, so I played it safe.

Once outside I saw that Emmett too had composed himself a bit better, "shall we walk to breakfast or wait for Albert?"

"I think he still needs a few moments to cool off, he'll sit with us when he's ready." I reasoned.

He simply grinned and we walked over to the bunch of tables, and the unmistakable smell of burnt food.

…..

Alice eventually found us, and after complaining that it 'wasn't funny' she eventually became happy and bubbly again.

"So Brian, who's your team leader?" Emmett asked as we were cleaning up our trays.

Alice giggled softly but I ignored her, "Edward."

His eyes widened, "You must have had bad karma in another life Brian, after last night I don't think he'll be very easy on you."

"Tell me something I don't know Emmett." I rolled my eyes at him in frustration, "Anyway, who do you have?"

"Edward as well, so I'll be there with my front row tickets" he grinned.

I grumbled in response. There wasn't that much I could really say, for the rest of my duration here I was in the deepest shit known to man. I was about to voice my thoughts on this when another loud horn noise sounded throughout the camp, so instead I looked to Alice with a look of confusion.

"The third horn is to signal it's time for us to gather at our designated areas for training," She explained, "Emmett was there last night so he knows where to go." She turned away and started walking briskly, "You don't want to be late B; you'll have enough on your plate as it is!" She yelled over her shoulder before she was lost in a sea of bodies.

I looked to Emmett, "Care to lead the way?"

"Sure thing BB," he said as he turned down a row of tents.

I had to partially jog to keep up with his strides, "BB? You know Brian only starts with one B?"

He grinned widely, showing his dimples "Yes, but in honour of last night I shall refer to you as Barfing Brian, or BB for short." I scowled at him, and attempted to punch him in the stomach. He laughed and avoided it with ease, "Careful there BB, save that for the training today." He said with a wink and turned away from me.

I growled in response and jumped onto his back once he had turned away, he started falling backwards, but instead of jumping off as he fell, I simply climbed higher up his massive body and swung myself around so I was facing him. He hit the ground with a huge _thud_ and attempted to roll over to dislodge me; I was able to hold on through his attempts and got a few punches in as well. What fuelled my anger even more was the fact he kept laughing at me, having an older brother made me seriously competitive, and my biggest pet peeve was people making fun of me. His laughing and teasing got me to a point where I saw red, my punching was joined by kicking, slapping, biting, and to finish it off – a huge thrust of my knee straight into his manhood. THAT managed to shut the oaf up.

I stood over him with my hands on hips and a smug smile on my face. It took me a moment to realise that we had an audience; my eyes roamed the shocked faces surrounding us. Emmett was still rolling on the ground groaning, "Brian…. How could you?" He moaned, "I wanted children one day you know…"

While I was taking deeps breathes to calm myself down, there was a shout from the outer circle of the men, and all of a sudden they all scrambled away until one lone figure stood before Emmett and I. I squinted at his face; the sun was rising behind him which cast his face into shadows. My gut started to get butterflies, and I groaned, knowing who it was before he even opened his mouth to speak.

"What on earth are you two playing at!?" He yelled at us, looking from me to Emmett, who had managed to get onto one knee.

"Captain," Emmett said with a wince, "just a little friendly rivalry is all." My eyebrows rose in surprise, I was certain he was going to rat me out.

Edward frowned, "Rivalry." He stated, "Between two men on the same side?" He turned to me, "Brian how is it that Emmett has all the evidence of a fight, while you have not a scratch or bruise upon you?"

His eyes practically set me on fire; it took all my will power, and more, to remind myself to keep breathing. _In, out… In, out… In, out… his eyes are such a lovely shade of green… straight nose… high cheekbones… _I was staring at his lips, and before I could help myself my tongue came out and wetted my bottom lip. His mouth dropped open in response, my eyes widened when I realised what I had just done. To add to my mortification, I could feel a rush of blood rise to my cheeks under his surprised stare.

_I have to fix this!_ "Uh… Well sir, it would seem, I … Uh… was better than him?" To be honest I didn't really hear what he had asked me, it was weird seeing him after last night. It felt like I actually missed being near him, even though it had been mere hours since the train ride.

He chuckled darkly, the noise snapping me out of my thoughts, "I highly doubt that Brian. Why you barely even reach his chest with your height, I'm sure that if he were actually trying you wouldn't stand a chance." It sounded like he was trying to be cold as he spoke to me, but his eyes made me feel warm, so I didn't really take any of what he said to heart.

"Oh yeah?" I challenged, while raising an eyebrow teasingly.

He frowned at me, "We'll see how you go up against him today Brian, if you beat him. You can fight me." A murmur went around the group of trainees.

I rolled my eyes; Edward was apparently the best fighter this camp had ever seen – that is until I turned up. I smiled wickedly, "You're on."

He nodded curtly and turned around, "Everyone form half sections and FOLLOW ME!" he yelled.

I quickly helped Emmett stand the rest of the way up and dragged him into place, "hey," he said, "I didn't need any help to stand."

"Then why on earth were you still on one knee clutching yourself?"

"I think I was in shock," he chuckled, "I think you just made today ten times worse for yourself Brian, seriously… As if last night wasn't bad enough! Now you're duelling Edward, did you know he was – "

"The head guard in Her Majesties castle. Yes Emmett _I know_, just as I know I can take him down and wipe that smug little smirk off his face."

He looked at me dubiously but didn't say a word.

…

By the time lunch time came around I was stuffed. I collapsed at the table that I had found Alice sitting at, and placed my head on the table. Wincing as the muscles in my back seized up as I stretched out.

"What happened to him?" I heard Alice ask Emmett.

"Edward was twice as hard on him as anyone else, if the troop had to do thirty push ups, our little Brian here had to do sixty." He snorted, "Brian actually kept up really well, but that seemed to make Edward really mad. So by the end of it Brian was nearly doing three times as much."

Alice gasped, and I felt her weight lift from the other side of the table and place itself next to me, "B?" she asked, "How are you feeling?"

"Like I'm dying…" I moaned to get the point across.

"Oh B, stop exaggerating! Here, I'll work on your muscles during lunch."

I turned my head to look at her, "But you need to eat as well."

"Don't worry I will," She said reassuringly, "Jasper barely made me do a thing so I'm really not that hungry."

I groaned, "You lucky pixie…" I looked at her hopefully, "Swapsies?"

Emmett laughed, "Oh no you don't Brian, after all, you still have your duel after lunch."

Alice looked at me sternly, "B? Care to explain?"

I sighed, "Well I may have gotten angry at Emmett earlier."

"Yes, yes, I heard about that. Get to the good bit."

"Edward didn't believe that I had beaten Emmett without Emmett letting me, as I hadn't been hit." She nodded encouragingly, "I said I was just better, so Edward said if I beat Emmett without cheating," I rolled my eyes and so did Alice, "Then I could prove myself up against him."

Alice raised an eyebrow, "Him being…" her eyes widened. "B, I know you're a great fighter, but you said no didn't you?"

Emmett laughed again, "He said yes Albert."

Alice looked at me in horror, "No!"

"Yes!" I retorted defiantly.

"No!"

"Yes!"

"NO!"

"YES!" I screamed. All the tables went silent, the only noise coming from Emmett as he tried, unsuccessfully I might add, to hide his laughter. "Excuse me," I muttered.

I quickly got up and made my way through the tables, attempting to ignore the whispering as I past. I never thought men could be as bad as women, all the gossiping and the lies that come from the observers. When I had made it out of their sight, I took off running towards the group of gum trees that were next to the camp. There were wattles trees spotted around the place, providing a bit of cover as I continued to run. I don't know why but I couldn't stop, my lungs were burning for more oxygen than I could get in, and my already fatigued muscles were screaming in pain.

Suddenly my foot hit a rock and I went sprawling against the ground, pain hit my face but I couldn't be bothered to get up. I hurt too much. I ended up rolling over and watching the galahs and cockatoos screeched in the trees above me. _Why am I here? _I asked myself, _I claim that it is to save my brother from being here… but I never had to sign those papers… Why must I be so rash? Mother would be disappointed in me for not being a proper lady… _I let the tears start to fall. I wished my parents were still here, I wished that I hadn't let Alice chop all my hair off, I wished I could just be a normal woman in our town, and most of all I wished I hadn't lied to Ben. My dear brother.

I closed my eyes and took deep breaths, slowly the tears stopped and I was able to think clearly. _Mum and Dad wouldn't have wanted me to give up, Edward is just a man, there are plenty more. My hair will grow back, and once I am done here Brian Swan would've never existed. _I sat up and looked around at my surroundings, it was late afternoon and the sunset was starting to colour the sky. With a sigh I stood up, my muscles even worse than what they were before. I started walking back in the general direction of the camp, surprised by how long it actually took me to get back. I hadn't realised that I ran that far.

"B!" I turned to the sound, only to be knocked to the ground by Alice, "B I was worried when you didn't come back. I'm so sorry for trying to control what you wanted to do, please forgive me!" She sounded really upset.

"Al, it's ok. I swear, I just needed time to think about what I really wanted." I put my arms around her and gave her a hug. "Just let me get up so then I can apologize to the Captain, I'll meet you in our tent ok?"

She nodded, and lifted herself off me. "Okay," She said through a watery smile, "I'll see you soon then." I nodded in response and she walked off.

As I was approaching the Captains tent I heard yelling, not sure what was going on I slowed my pace and tried to listen.

"Where could he be? What if he got hurt? This is all my fault!" It sounded like Edward, but who could he be yelling about?

"Edward calm down," I was able to recognise Jasper's voice, "I'm sure Brian will turn up, just wait until morning." I froze. They were talking about me? The tent flap opened and Jasper stood in the opening. "Just go to bed mate, it'll be fine," he said before walking off.

I really didn't want to go into the tent to see Edward now, but I knew that I had too, for his sake at least. I approached the tent flap cautiously, not sure how to announce myself I simply coughed. "Who is it?" Edward snapped.

Instead of replying, I simply opened the flap and walked in, what I saw made me gasp. All his belongings were thrown all over the place, his bed sheets torn into strips and broken furniture in the corner. He looked up from his chair, miraculously the only thing not broken, and relief flooded his features. He stood up and in what seemed like seconds he was in front of me.

My voice failed me, with him so close it was all I could do not to lean into him and place my arms around his waist. I tilted my head up as he was so very tall compared to me, and I studied his face. He seemed confused about something, and a small crease had turned up between his eyes. Smiling softly, I lifted my hand and smoothed it away. He closed his eyes in response.

EPOV

"What are you doing?" I asked him. His fingers immediately left my face, and I was disappointed. I didn't want him to stop. I opened my eyes, "No…" I whispered as I took his hand, "Don't stop," and I placed his hand onto my cheek.

His eyes widened as he felt my skin under his palm, and all I could do was stare into the deep brown eyes that always held me captive. With one hand holding his to my face, I snaked my other arm around his impossibly tiny waist, marvelling at how soft he felt under his clothes. Suddenly he ripped himself away from me, and went to the other side of the tent.

His hands were trembling, and his eyes looked panicked. I started towards him again, I felt like a predator stalking its prey. Some little voice in the back of my head was telling me to stop, telling me to think about what I was doing. Brian spoke up, "Sir, I just came to apologise for this afternoon. I didn't mean to cause trouble, or mislead you. I'm only interested in women, also if you do try anything with me, I _will_ tell the whole camp.

I raised an eyebrow at his words, "Need I remind you Brian," I took another step towards him, "You started this back on the train."

He nodded and took a deep breath, "Yes, but I didn't think you were gay, so I didn't think anything of it."

I stopped, and frowned. "I-I'm not…" I shook my head. _I'm either gay or not, which one will it be Edward?_ I thought of Bella, and how she had decided on someone else. My feelings towards her were still strong, and I couldn't do this to another man if I were ever to make her mine. I looked back at Brian, "I'm not gay." I stated, "Apology accepted, you may leave." He nodded quickly and practically ran out of my tent.

I sat down on the last remaining chair, and put my face in my hands. I was decided; I would win Bella back from the man I saw her with. Now all I needed to do was make it through a few weeks until the training break.

She will be mine.

**So there we have it, here's hoping you like it. Again thank you for those who have reviewed and/or made it a favourite.**

**Disclaimer: I own neither Twilight nor Mulan, which this is loosely based around. **


End file.
